Fellowship of the College of Emergency Medicine

Membership of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine (MRCEM) and Fellowship of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine (FRCEM) are postgraduate awards made by the UK Royal College of Emergency Medicine to specialists in Emergency Medicine.

It is a required part of specialist training for doctors undertaking General Medical Council (GMC) approved training in the United Kingdom, but it is also taken by doctors from a variety of other countries. In particular, several parts of the examination are held in overseas examination centers in Dublin, Chennai, Hyderabad, New Delhi, Reykjavik, Kuala Lumpur, and Muscat.

Membership and Fellowship are granted by examination and must be completed in a prescribed order alongside other eligibility criteria set forth by the organization.[1]

MRCEM Primary [2]

• Any person holding a medical qualification approved by the GMC for the purposes of registration is eligible.
• Consists of one written paper lasting 3 hours and consisting of 180 single-best answer questions.
• Covers the RCEM Basic Sciences Curriculum.^[1]

MRCEM Intermediate SBA [3]

• Open to candidates who have passed the MRCEM Primary (or equivalent) exam. Applicants are required to hold a medical qualification approved by the GMC for the purposes of registration and must have completed the UK Foundation Program or equivalent.
• Consists of two written papers (single best answer multiple choice) of 90 questions each, lasting two hours each, with one hour break between papers.^[2]

MRCEM OSCE [4]

• Open to candidates who have passed the Primary and MRCEM Intermediate SBA (or equivalent).  Candidates are also required to have at least 24 months experience post qualification and at least six months experience in EM (post FY1/intern level).

• OSCE - 16 eight-minute stations.^[2]

The completion of the above three examinations grants the Membership of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine (MRCEM) and contributes towards eligibility to complete the fellowship examinations below (FRCEM), which can be taken in any order. The FRCEM examinations are open to candidates who have obtained MRCEM after 2012 or the previous 'FRCEM Intermediate Certificate'. The candidates are required to have a certain level of experience:

• For trainees in an approved UK or Irish training program: has completed 12 months (or full-time equivalent) of training in Emergency Medicine at ST4/ST5 or equivalent.
• For non-trainees: has completed 6 years of training post-qualification; 4 years (or full-time equivalent) of which must be in Emergency Medicine, and 1 year (or full time equivalent) of which must be at a level above ST3/SHO.

FRCEM SBA [5]

• Consists of two written papers (single best answer multiple choice) of 90 questions each, lasting two hours each, with one hour break between papers.

FRCEM OSCE [6]

• OSCE - 16 eight-minute stations.^[2]

• Royal College of Emergency Medicine
• Fellow of the American College of Emergency Physicians
• Fellow of the Australasian College of Emergency Medicine